culture in the third reich: the use of the arts and the media as a means of control

aims

The Nazis were trying to achieve the following aims:

 Glorification of the regime

 Spread Nazi ideology and values

 Integrate diverse elements of the nation and the ‘people’s

community’

 The Nazis attempted to use culture in the Third Reich as a form of propaganda

 As part of its policy of co-ordination (Gleichshaltung) – the process by which all institutions were made to conform to the policies of National Socialism – the Nazi state tried to get control over the media and all cultural activities.

propaganda

 The Nazi regime created a series of new institutions to exercise overall control of propaganda.

 In 1933 Hitler set up the Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (RMVP) under Goebbels, who supervised a vast machinery for control of all aspects of the media.

 It developed into a vast organisation, employing approx. 14,000 by 1937 and it became a prop of Nazi rule.

chamber of culture

 Alongside this the government established a Reich Chamber of Culture which was used to exercise control over all aspects of culture.

 It consisted of seven sub-chambers covering Press, Radio, Film, Literature, Theatre, Music and Fine Arts.

Membership was compulsory for people involved in cultural activities.

 The Nazis exercised control through direct ownership of some forms, by controlling those working in the media, by directing the media as to what to produce, and by prosecuting non-conformist activities.

the arts in the third reich - art

• After 1933 the arts were to help forge the people’s collective mind.

• Once in power Hitler began to remove degenerate (corrupt) art and foster healthy Aryan art. Modern reflective abstract art (like Picasso) was to be replaced by clear visual images that ordinary Germans could understand and be inspired by.

• Nazi art was to clear, heroic and direct. In the new Nazi art people were drawn not as real individuals but just as heroic idealisations: the healthy peasant, the brave warrior, Hitler was portrayed as the wise, imperious leader.

the arts in the third reich: art continued

• The state controlled what was produced and what was distributed. All artists had to join the Reich Culture Chamber.

• The state could withdraw licenses to teach, to exhibit or even to paint.

• A series of well-attended national and local exhibitions was held. In1935 there were over 120 art exhibitions in factories and in 1941 over 1,000 art exhibitions overall. Exhibition titles included, “Autobahns of Adolf Hitler through the Eyes of Art”, “To the Glory of Labour”, “The German Fatherland”, “Blood and Soil” and “Race and Nation.”

• In 1937 two parallel art exhibitions were held in Munich, one was the

Exhibition of Great German Art (600,000 people visited) and the other the Exhibition of Degenerate Art. These included works by Van Gogh and Picasso.

• Two million attended the exhibition. After going on national tour, the works were destroyed, sold abroad or kept by Goring!

the arts in the third reich: architecture

• This was viewed as the most important artistic form of propaganda. Hitler described it as the “word in stone.” The new buildings constructed would illustrate the Nazi idea of a Thousand Year Reich.

• Hitler favoured a neo-classical, monumental style: the symmetric simplicity and order of the Greeks but on a vast scale.

• Albert Speer was Hitler’s personal architect and became General Architectural Inspector of the Reich in 1937. He drew up plans for the rebuilding of German cities. Hitler’s most grandiose architectural plan was to rebuild Berlin as the new city of Germania by 1950.

• Hitler drew up guidelines but very little was done.

• The Olympic Stadium was built though for the Berlin Olympics of 1936.

the arts in the third reich: literature

 In May 1933 the Nazis organised a major book burning ceremony in Berlin. 20,000 books, both novels and non-fiction, were burnt, in order to cleanse the new Germany. Similar ceremonies followed in other cities.

 Several famous authors, such as Thomas Mann and Stefan Zweig went into exile. Others stayed but were forbidden to publish; others were imprisoned. Novelists were expected to promote Nazi ideas or at least to be neutral. The best-selling book was Mein Kampf, selling over 6 million copies

the arts in the third reich: music

 MUSIC: The Reich Chamber of Music controlled production of music. Between 1933 and 1935 it was headed by Richard Strauss. Experimental music, such as the atonal compositions of Schoenberg, was banned as decadent, and a stream of musicians emigrated.

 Hitler’s favourites, Wagner, Strauss and Bruckner, were given special stress. Hitler encouraged the Bayreuth Festival, which had been started by Richard Wagner and dedicated to his operas. Folk operas were also fostered.

 Stirring music and tales of German heroes were used in music to stir up patriotic emotions, especially in marches and rallies.

the arts in the third reich: music

 SCULPTURE: Sculpture was immediately more accessible to people through the vast statues that adorned many of the new public buildings.

 In 1934 it was decreed that all new public buildings should be embellished by sculptures conveying the Nazi message.

 A series of massive sculptural men paraded on or in front of Nazi buildings, reflecting the biologically pure, vigorous Aryan race.

controlling the media in the reich: the press

1. Firstly, by controlling journalists, editors, publishers- through compulsory membership of co- ordinating bodies.

Thus the Reich Press Chamber included the Reich Association of the German Press which kept a register of acceptable editors and journalists.

2. In Oct. 1933 a law made editors responsible for infringements of government directives. Clause 14 excluded from their papers everything “calculated to weaken the strength of the Reich at home or abroad.” It was treason to spread false rumours.

The RMVP controlled the content of the press through the state- controlled Press Agency which provided roughly half the content of newspapers.

3. Lastly, by extending Nazi ownership of the press. The Nazi party’s publishing house, Eher Verlag, gradually took over most of the press. Nazi ownership of the media grew from 3% in 1933 to 69% in 1939 and to 82% in 1944.

controlling the media in the third reich: radio

 Radio became one of the most powerful tools for indoctrination. Goebbels described it as the “spiritual weapon of the totalitarian state.”

 When the Nazis came to power there were 9 autonomous regional radio stations. Goebbels persuaded Hitler to issue a decree, backed up by personal letters to the Reich governors placing radio under the control of the Ministry of Propaganda.

 Regional stations became branches of the Reich Radio company. Membership of the RRG became compulsory for anyone working in broadcasting

 There was mass production of the “People’s Receiver.” This sold at just 35 marks payable by instalments. This had just one radio station and limited range.

 An early poster campaign announced that ‘the whole of Germany listens to the Fuhrer with the People’s radio.’

 In 1933 there were 7 million radio sets; by 1943 16 million. By 1939, 70% of households owned a “people’s receiver.”

 There were also communal loudspeakers. Radio transmitted Hitler’s key speeches. In 1935 the estimated audience for Hitler’s speeches reached 56 million (out of a population of just under 70 million).

Key speeches were announced by sirens and work stopped so all could listen to public loudspeakers.

controlling the media in the third reich: film

 The state controlled film companies and film content. The RMVP increasingly financed films, so indirectly companies became state owned. In 1942 these were all nationalised under Ufi.

 The Reich Film Chamber regulated the content of both German made and imported films. Several American films were banned. Goebbels made himself responsible for approving every film made in Germany.

 Films were classified- for example, “politically and artistically valuable”, “culturally valuable”, a “film of the nation”, “valuable for the youth”- and given money accordingly.

 During the regime over 1000 feature films were produced. The most famous producer was Leni Riefenstahl who was commissioned to make detailed recordings of rallies and festivals, to tell people what was happening and to encourage involvement. Her most famous films were Triumph of the Will and the 1934 Nuremburg Rally and Olympia about the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Some films glorified the struggle for power; others tried to develop racist attitudes. In 1940 three anti-Semitic films were produced to stress the Jews as a parasitic race within the nation, the most well-known being “The Eternal Jew.” Admission to the film theatre was only allowed at the beginning of the film as Nazi newsreels were shown before it started.